Hey RETed, im just asking for a pointer. I didnt ask if you knew how to make a mold (if you read my post, I am making the mold), I asked if epoxy or resin would eat duct tape or saran wrap. Im ambitious, not retarded, and this is a learning process. Do you mind if i ask for help? Is that okay by you oh mighty one? Dont be a jack ***, please.

Since im going to be changing the headlights, and have no need for the motor, i might be able to fit more, or make that turn easier. Thanks for the info though, waiting for the pics!

The hood i will wait on even thinking about till the weekend. Then ill start thinking about a design there...

Ill get started on the undertray as soon as the rain lets up, and i can get under my car without being soaked. Ill also take a look at the brake duct issue more this weekend, school eats up my time like no other.

Glad to see some people are intersted. I assure you this is going to happen, at least for my car. I dont have the money to buy other people's kits/headlights or anything like that.

Solution? Fabricate!

 

Cool. I'll be watching this. RN PMed me by the way. I'm just skeptical, that's all.

 

Okay guys, I know i was going to try and get pics up, at least thats what i told eric in the pm i sent him...but school sucked. Ill put em up in the morning, tell me what you think of my mold. Next step is making a stiffer piece that i can possibly test fit/check on the car, and use as a more permanent model. Cinnamon toast crunch boxes and duct tape just doesnt cut it for a long haul type thing... The project will probably wait till saturday to continue, when i have more time. Got a couple errands to run, money to deposit, maybe ill get around to picking up some fiber glass sheet and some cloth to base coat it with, but it might not be tomorrow.

The things i need to continue this project are
-fiberglass sheet
-cloth for a base
-resin/epoxy
-brush for said resin

 

FYI: just making the spoiler "longer" isn't going to do much of anything for downforce. The stock airfoil is terrible, and the stock mounting location is too low to get decent airfoil. Furthermore, the airfoil would be i some rpetty serious ground effect.

If you want to get more rear downforce, what you really need is a good high "lift" airfoil mounted higher up and at the right angle.

Theoretically speaking, it should be possible for a stock sized spoiler to produce about 80 lb's of downforce if it were positioned correctly.

--Alex

 

Rotary noob,

RETed is a smart guy and knows what he's talking about but at the cost of any polite manners or civility...

 

Thats perfectly fine, but manners would be a plus. Anyways, Update. Removing the front headlight so that i can test fit this, and I think im going to need to redesign it. Pics of mold follow.
(note, like i said, i will probably have to redo this, but at least its some progress)

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign009.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign006.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign008.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign007.jpg

Thats all i got for now, i may have some more from another design before i leave for school, but thats a really big maybe.

 

Update:

Did some deconstruction, removed the headlights, and removed the factory brake ducts, and the undertray. I will start working on the undertray tomorrow, as well as the brake ducts. It looks like i could get some 4 or 5" piping through there, and vent it onto the brake itself, by going going through the wheel well right near the A arm. You were right about the wheel at full lock, so hopefully i can get the duct in there far enough to vent towards the brakes.

I have pictures of deconstruction!

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign010.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign012.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign014.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign015.jpg

A man by the name of Jeff just talked to me about his racing shop in the davis/woodland area. Speed Secrets Racing Company. If youve heard about it, he is building a FB for rally cross, and at one point owned an FD, so he should know his stuff pretty well. Im going to look up the place, and see what i can find out.

Interesting the people you meet everyday. Just thought id throw it out there.

 

Another update. Im pretty sure on what im going to be using for light. Piaa P-3000's. Thoughts, ideas? I think itll be a good setup, its will be thin enough to fit inside the stock location, i can mount it where the stock eyelid bracked mounted, and it comes with the harness. Cant go wrong if I wire it up right.

 

Yet another update and I dont even know if people are still looking at this. I swear im not bullshiting you guys, its going to happen. Im going to pick and pull to see if i can get a TII hood, and I need a new front bumper (the lower screw holes are all broken off, and i want to make sure i get the undertray right) Im thinking of making it out of aluminum, so thats a plus to all you people out there that like durability.

If i pick up that TII hood, im going to try and mold the scoop, and see if i can reverse the direction to help vent everything. Again, Ill try to take pictures of all of this. Im still working on the headlights, but no money to actually buy the lights, so im still tweaking the design to get it perfect before I add the lights.

 

Hey I might be intyerseted in the lights and hood. It depends what they look like in the mockup. good luck

 

Broke down and decided to use Walmart off brand lights, untill i have the money to go for the PIAA's. Pictures follow.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign016.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign017.jpg

The rectangular one sucks at the distance i tested it at (about 20 feet) but when i just went out and shined it across the field near my house, it went close to 150+ with some good illumination. The round one though, is freaking bomb *** at close range, and the light travels a good distance. So, recap. Got the circular high beams, possibly need some low beams. I will go back to walmart tomorrow to check out what else they have in the way of low beams.

By the time i got to Pick n Pull today, it was closed. I will go tomorrow and get there to see if they have any TII hoods. Ill also be picking up a front bumper like i said.

 

Do a search for a DLtreezan user name and Headlight kit. He used lights that looked almost identical to those.

Chris

 

I dont think they are the same, and the headlight kit will be different. I dont plan on cutting into the front fashia.

 

Update, good progress so far, me and my buddy have the lower piece of the mold figured out so far for the new design, and we have ideas for where we are going to fit the lights figured out. If everything goes as well as it has been, we may have both sides done (on the lower section) leaving just the shroud for the lights to be done. Then its just some lexan on top, and figuring out how to dissipate heat.

 

ANOTHER update!

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign029.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign028.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign027.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign026.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign025.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign023.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign022.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign021.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign020.jpg

So far this is the work we have done on the right side mold. We just finished wrapping it in duct tape.

 

Don't mind ReTED, I don't think anyone ever taught him manners.

The work so far looks good. Well, a lot better than anything I could do, that's for sure.

 

Okay, today im definitely going to Pick'n'Pull. Get that bumper so i can make a decent undertray, and get that all hooked in, a sunroof since mine is rusted through, and MAYBE a front left fender, depending on how much it is. The one I have only has a little damage.

Thanks for the compliments dude, yeah, I have a buddy helping me out, he used to work at a restoration shop for old *** cars (had XJS jaguars come through, '68 Karman Ghias, old **** like that.) So he has a better understanding of what needs to happen than i do yet. But im getting there. I should have an update later today. Itll be of either one of two things. I have the headlight finished, or I should have an undertray designed/produced.

 

If you'd like ur mold to be a bit stiffer, and a little easier to shape, then get urself some bondoe!!! Use your cardboard mold and fill it with bondoe, just make sure to cover the card board with vaseline so that u can get the bondoe off again. This will give you something that u can cut and shave down so that it fits perfectly, while at the same time being able to mount the lights right into it for a more accurate appearance!!! It'll be easier to use the bondoe as a master mold!

 

Update, Massive deconstruction, pretty much everything is stripped out of the interior of the car now. I put the driver seat back in, and I have the one for the passenger chilling in the other room if i ever want to put it back in. Now i just need a clutch, and its pretty much ready.

Pictures!

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign040.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign039.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign038.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign037.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign036.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign035.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign034.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign033.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign032.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign031.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tdesign030.jpg

We are again working on headlights.

 

Doing some testing on how to get the glass to not stick to the mold so that i can use it more than once. I have some more pictures of deconstruction, but no access to them at the moment. Ill try to get them up in the morning when i get home (2am) Still trying to find a turbo 2 hood to copy, so if anyone is around davis, CA, let me know, It would really help things along.

 

dltreezan has a set of lights that are just like ones your making, that dont require cutting into the bumper, the ones that look like you have to cut the bumper are actually part of the bumper. He hasn't used the PIAA lights though. nothing like friendly competition, it will be interesting to see your final product, good luck.

 

The easiest way to keep glass from sticking is to make sure that the mold surface is made from a nice hard material, such as tooling epoxy, and then to apply mold release compounds.

Ususally, you will use about 10 coats of mold release wax (high quality carnuba car wax will work), then apply a coat of PVA.

After that, before you do each part do another coat or two of wax, buff it nicely, and add a coat of PVA.

If you spray automotive paint on the mold surface prior to laying it up the part will come out prepainted.

--Alex

 

Yeah, his lights are the ones that made me decide to make some for my car, im not trying to steal his thunder in any sense, i just want to make some parts for my car that cost less (for me). since i have no money.

I would use the piaa lights if i had the money but im using some cheap knock off wal mart brand right now. When i get the money i will re make them so that it uses the better quality lights.

I just dont want to cut into the bumper, it would be too much stuff to replace, or remove if you needed to repair or modify something. Aside from that, i think he has a good design going, and hope it works out well. Also, if you dont cut into the bumper you can use any bumper that you would like.

Thanks Raptor, i will check that out tomorrow on a test piece, and see if it works. Question though, does the wax+PVA come off with the fiberglass, or what? Im using bondo brand resin if that helps at all.

 

The PVA will sorta come off. You'll see when you try it. Once dried, it makes a plastickish non-stick layer. The wax stays on the mold.

You are using bondo resin for the part itself? I would steer clear of any polyester resins if possible, because they are more likely to warp with heat and age. IIRC, you can get a quart kit of west systems finishing epoxy for like $20, and it should be enough to cure a few yards of cloth.

--Aex

 

im not just molding it with the resin, i hope i didnt come across like that. Im going to be using fiberglass sheet, and im planning on 3-4 layers, so it should be pretty solid. Thanks for the input though, im definitely open to new ideas. The way the design is going to work, it should be pretty stiff when its installed. It will be attached to the front bumper, possibly have an aluminum plate glassed in on the bottom for mounting the lights, and it will be attached to the front part of the frame itself.

Im always open to new ideas though, so keep em coming.